Petr's Mate Read Free Page B

big.” Strong, no, what the fa-hell was she
thinking right now? She couldn’t be thinking of how good he smelled. There
was also no way in hell she was admiring how easily he picked her up. No,
wasn’t possible. Maybe she was still trapped in the nightmares of cryo -sleep? Yes, that made more sense than her being in the
arms of an alien, her friends all dead, and the one left alive completely
fucking nuts. “You’ll find him, right? I don’t know why he killed them.” She
lay her head on his shoulder. God, she had to be dreaming because it was far too easy to let herself trust this
man, to close her eyes while he held her.
    “We’ll
find him, and he’ll pay for his crimes.” The admiral carried her easily through
her ship, though she had to admit it was mildly amusing to watch him scrunch up
to get through the doorways between sections. Especially since he was also
trying not to drop her in the process. He shot her a look, one of his pale
eyebrows lifting. “You are amused by something, Doctor Samantha Henry?”
    She
shook her head. “I have got to be dreaming. ”
When they exited her craft, she looked back and bit back a sob. “Oh God, ” she whispered in horror, all traces
of amusement gone as she realized that she wasn’t dreaming. They were in a
massive landing bay. The place was huge and would have easily fit her original
ship in it without it touching a wall. She pressed her face in to the curve of his neck and found
herself whispering for just him, “I’m from the year two thousand fifteen, from
Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy. I’m sure that you probably know it as something
else.” She didn’t try to stop the hot tears that fell down her cheeks.
“Although by now my galaxy is likely dead, merged with the Andromeda Galaxy.”
The ship she had been on had taken substantial damage. The NASA placard was still on the side, duller now, the whole ship
pockmarked and aged. “I have no home.” She had known that the mission would
take her from home for a long time, but she would have been able to go back.
There was no going back from this.
    He
came to a stop and she saw through her tears that he waved the doctor and another security officer
forward. When they were alone, he carried her into what she could only figure out to be a storage space.
Suddenly he sat down, and she found herself perched on his muscular thighs. “We
will find out what has happened to you and your ship. I know this situation
must be extremely disturbing for you. This is not a place you know, or even
understand, but you are welcome here. Take each moment as it comes, Doctor.
Don’t get ahead of yourself in the search for answers that may never come to
you. Do you understand what I am saying?”
    She
nodded and pulled back to look up at him. “I do.” She found herself watching
him as he watched her. “Thank you. For being the one to take me. I’m not sure I
would have felt as comfortable with anyone else.” She felt her eyes go wide.
Had she actually said that aloud? “I mean.” Crap, what did she mean? She was nine kinds of lost
right now and oddly enough the only thing she found she wanted to cling to was this mountain of a man that was holding her now and
being as patient as a parent would be with a child. “I hope your tech guys or
gals will be able to pull enough information from the computers to at least
give us an idea of where I’m from?” If they knew where Earth was, and maybe if it was still there … Maybe her people had advanced enough that she would be able to communicate with
them? It was a hope, at least. “Thank you for ducking in here. I hate for
people to see me cry.” She snuggled up close to him again. What the fa-hell was
going on with her? She wasn’t a snuggler . She wasn’t
a clinger, either, but with this man she was. “You smell so good.” What. The.
Fa-chuck? She had lost her mind. That was the only explanation. She didn’t just
tell men that they smelled good and she certainly didn’t